Union density effects in the supermarket industry

Unions provide higher than competitive wages for members, but their effect on non-union wages is not clear. We investigate the effect of union density on supermarket wages from 1986 to 1993, a period of declining real wages and declining union membership. Full-information maximum likelihood techniques are used to estimate log wage equations for both the union and nonunion sectors. Decomposition techniques then separate the union wage premium into the relative effects of densities and union membership. We find a significant, positive effect of union density for both union and nonunion employees. This effect explains approximately one-third of the union-nonunion wage differential. This research was conducted while Johansson was a graduate research assistant at the University of Minnesota.     

Residence in the Social Ecology of Stress and Restoration

We relate residence to health within a social ecological model of stress and restoration. As an isolated setting and in relation to other everyday settings, we discuss the residence in terms of demands, coping resources and responses, and opportunities for restoration. Our model indicates how processes operating above the household level can affect health by modifying the quantity, quality, and distribution of demands, resources, and restoration opportunities within and across the settings of everyday life, including the residence. We illustrate some of these social ecological dynamics with the case of home-based telework. Concluding, we discuss the utility of the model for environmental interventions intended to alleviate health-threatening chronic stress .     

Sense of coherence and ill health among the unemployed and re-employed after closure of an assembly plant

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between employment status, ill health and sense of coherence(SOC). A cross-sectional sample of the former workers at the closed down Volvo Kalmar plant in Sweden was used. A questionnaire was mailed to all identified subjects 2 years after the closure of the plant. Responses were obtained from 344 persons, of whom 173 were re-employed and 92 were unemployed. They answered the questionnaire anonymously on background variables, SOC and ill health (physical and psychological symptoms). A notable difference was found between the re-employed and unemployed, where the unemployed reported symptoms significantly more often as well as a significantly weaker SOC. A main finding in a four cell model indicated that unemployment had a rather low impact on symptoms in the presence of a strong SOC. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was performed with simultaneous analysis of the unemployed and reemployed. The SEM analysis indicated that SOC seemed to have a greater impact on psychological symptoms among unemployed compared with re-employed persons. However, it should be noted that the present study does not allow for the determination of cause-effect relationships.     

Policy and practices relating to the active engagement of older people in the community: a comparison of Sweden and Australia

This article compares policy and practices for engaging older people in community life in Sweden and Australia. Barriers and support for active engagement through paid work, social activism, volunteering and aged services are compared. Both countries face issues of ageing populations, services for rural areas and people with small needs. Issues for Sweden were the absence of age discrimination legislation, availability of funds and lack of recognition of the growing levels of volunteering. Issues for Australia concerned the new managerialist approach to services, with associated complexities of access and limited social activism.     

Policies and practices in support of family caregivers - filial obligations redefined in Sweden

This article provides an overview of how the expression of filial obligations has shifted over time in Sweden. Historically, and currently in many countries, the family, next of kin, and the social network are the only or major sources of help, as it was in Sweden till half a century ago. The article also explores how various aspects of solidarity-public and private-have developed and are changing in Sweden, known for its extensive welfare programs, with "from cradle to grave" security. It concludes that intergenerational solidarity has not vanished in Sweden; just the manifestations have changed.     

Return to work still possible after several years as a disability pensioner due to musculoskeletal disorders: a population-based study after new legislation in Sweden permitting "resting disability pension"

Different strategies have been used to stimulate a return to work (RTW) among individuals suffering from long-term ailments. In Sweden a new law on "resting disability pension" permits disability pensioners to go back to work without jeopardising their benefits. In this study different variables related to RTW during 2000 by means of this legislation were identified among disability pensioners with musculoskeletal disorders. Individuals in the study group, when compared to a control group, had more often been disability pensioners for several years, had additional education, estimated their previous job to have been physically strenuous to a lesser degree, were more satisfied with the treatment at the social insurance office and had a more positive self-image. This study shows that it may be meaningful to continue/resume rehabilitation efforts and to try to motivate an individual suffering from musculoskeletal disorders to return to work even after several years as a disability pensioner.     

WOMEN'S CAREER PATTERNS IN SWEDEN

Although research on and models of career patterns are often implicitly assumed to be of general validity, they are usually coloured by their cultural, ethnic and historical background and by a lack of gender perspective. One of the most critical research gaps concerns changes and transitions in women's careers. The general aim of this paper is to describe career patterns over the life course of women born in the 1950s in Sweden — in terms of shape, level and stability. Data were collected from work histories in the interviews of a sample of Swedish women aged 43 (n?=?109) as part of a longitudinal study. Career patterns were plotted based on life events related to education, family and work. Results revealed relative stability of labour force participation, but not of work hours over the life course. Most of the women worked part time taking care of children for a varying number of years. Continuous full-time work (from 16 to 43) was highly unusual and almost entirely limited to women without children. Nevertheless, career progress in terms of moving to higher career levels was a common feature of the cohort albeit largely restricted to female-dominated occupations. The significance of a generous welfare state supportive for women's career opportunities as well as a highly gender-segregated labour market are discussed. A tentative new model of career patterns, taking account of women's experiences and sensitive to welfare state context, is proposed, as a basis for future research with larger and more diverse samples.

Con frecuencia se asume implícitamente que la investigación y los modelos de los patrones profesionales tienen validez general. Sin embargo, estos estan generalmente matizados por sus antecedentes culturales, étnicos e históricos, y por la ausencia de perspectiva de género. Una de las brechas mas críticas en la investigación concierne a los cambios y transcisiones en la carrera de las mujeres. El objetivo general de este artículo es describir los patrones profesionales en el transcurso de la vida de las mujeres nacidas en Suecia en los años 1950s, en función de forma, nivel y estabilidad. Los datos fueron obtenidos de historias laborales procedentes de entrevistas en una muestra de 109 mujeres suecas de 43 años de edad, como parte de un estudio longitudinal. Los patrones profesionales fueron graficados en base a los eventos de la vida relacionados con educación, familia y trabajo. Los resultados revelaron una relativa estabilidad en la participación en la fuerza laboral, pero no en las horas de trabajo durante la vida. La mayoría de las mujeres trabajaron a tiempo parcial cuidando los hijos por un numero variable de años. El trabajo contínuo a tiempo completo (desde los 16 a los 43 años) resultó sumamente inusual y casi totalmente limitado a las mujeres sin hijos. No obstante, el progreso hacia mejores niveles profesionales resultó un rasgo común de la cohorte, aunque muy restringido a las ocupaciones dominantemente femeninas. Se discuten la significancia de un sistema de asistencia social estatal generoso en el apoyo a las oportunidades profesionales de la mujer y la amplia segregación de género en el mercado laboral. Como base para futuras investigaciones con muestras mayores y diversas, se propone un modelo tentativo de patrones profesionales que toma en cuenta las experiencias de las mujeres y que es sensible al contexto de la asistencia social estatal.     

Effectiveness of a stress management program in reducing anxiety and depression in nursing students.

This study sought to develop a stress management program based on the arousal-attribution stress model and to evaluate the effectiveness of the program in reducing anxiety and depression experienced by nursing students. Forty-two sophomore and 34 senior nursing students in a private, sectarian, liberal arts college were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. All subjects were given pre- and posttests consisting of the State form of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory and the Institute for Personality and Ability Testing Depression Scale. Posttest analysis indicated that the experimental group had significantly lower anxiety and depression than the control group (p less than .05). These results support the use of the arousal-attribution stress model as a theoretical framework for stress management training.